FINALLY!! I’m back with another amazing blog coming up! I know I missed the last 2 weeks, but no better time to come back before what should be an AMAZING week of college football coming up! And this is a HUGE week because TONIGHT, the first college football playoff rankings will be announced. These are basically pointless rankings, but they will get fans everywhere going crazy for some odd reason. I’ll likely disagree with whatever they put out tonight, but o well, I’ll give my rankings below. Someone else has finally thrown themselves into the Heisman race, which I was worried would never happen and we’ve had our first major coach firing, though not the first one I expected! I’ll get into it all and more!
COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF RANKINGS
As mentioned before, tonight begins our Road to the Playoff with the first rankings of the season and even though they don’t matter I am anxious to see how they look.
Let’s break this down by conference contenders.
SEC
Primarily, I want to see where they have Alabama ranked in the initial rankings. They will likely have them at 1 due to Nick Saban and past history. But, forgive me if I’m wrong, but rankings should be based on this season and this season alone and ALABAMA HAS BEATEN ONE POWER 5 TEAM WITH A WINNING RECORD ALL YEAR. ONE. That not worthy of them being ranked at ONE. I would much rather have Georgia at 1. They have a GREAT win against a top 5 Notre Dame team, while Alabama’s best win is Texas A&M who just got destroyed by Mississippi State last week. Is Bama 2? Not in my rankings. But this isn’t all about Bama and the trash Southeastern Conference.
BIG 12
Oklahoma has 1 loss to what is turning out to be a damn good Iowa State team who just knocked off an undefeated TCU this past week. How high should they be? But they also play in a virtual elimination game this weekend against rival Oklahoma State, so it doesn’t matter much. What about TCU? They have the 1 loss, but also have 3 really good wins against West Virginia, Oklahoma State, and Kansas State on the road. They play against Oklahoma next week in a must win game. At this point, they still control their own destiny. Oklahoma State as we mentioned plays in a elimination game against Oklahoma this week. Luckily it’s at home. If they win, they have a great chance to get to the playoff.
BIG 10
Is this the best conference in college football? One could make an argument. I honestly believe there are 6-7 good teams in this league. But of course, we’ll only focus on the contenders. Ok, I know Penn State just lost to Ohio State in maybe the game of the year this past Saturday, but I still think they are the best team in this league. But just as I argued for Penn State to be ranked ahead of Ohio State last year due to head to head, I have to hold to that same principle this season. So Ohio State is ahead now, but they still have 3 tough games ahead. On the road this week at Iowa, and they still have Michigan State and Michigan on the schedule. If they win out, they clearly deserve a playoff invite. Penn State goes on the road to Michigan State this week. This is likely their last big test of the regular season. I haven’t even gotten to the ONLY undefeated team in this league yet. Wisconsin has flown under the radar due to not having the names and notoriety of the previously mentioned teams but they are a REALLY good football team. They seem to dominate every game behind a tremendous defense. Lucky for them, they avoid playing Penn State and Ohio State in the regular season.
ACC
Miami is undefeated, BUT even though I’m a diehard fan of the Canes, I can even admit that all of their wins haven’t been the most impressive! On offense at least. I’ll put the Canes defense up against almost anybody’s. But 7-0 is 7-0 and they control their own destiny. Their 2 biggest games of the season are the next 2 weeks and lucky for them, they’re both at home against Virginia Tech and Notre Dame. If Miami wins both, there’s a great chance they end up in the ACC title game. Which brings me to Clemson. Clemson is a great team still and even though they have 1 loss, I take into account that it came on a Friday night, which are always crazy outcomes, and also their starting quarterback was injured. The human element has to take that into account. Clemson should be fine if they win out, but that process starts this week against a tough North Carolina State team. I guess I should mention Virginia Tech who has 1 loss to Clemson, and a good win against West Virginia. If they beat Miami this week, they may have a chance to get their revenge against Clemson in the ACC title game.
PAC 12
Washington is the only semi contender here. They have 1 loss which wasn’t a terrible loss. It was on the road to an improving Arizona State team. However, they have 4 games left and I wouldn’t be surprised if they lost at least 2 of the 4.
So….my ranking that will likely change by next week as the season plays itself out.
1. GEORGIA
2. NOTRE DAME
3. CLEMSON
4. OKLAHOMA
5. OHIO STATE
6. PENN STATE
7. ALABAMA
8. WISCONSIN
9. MIAMI
10. TCU
Heisman Race
So we’ve finally been able to add a few names to the Heisman race. Don’t get me wrong, Saquon Barkley is still the favorite, but he at least won’t be making the trip to New York alone now. Here are my top 4 Heisman candidates.
- Saquon Barkley - Runaway leader at this point. He literally does everything and is the most explosive player in college football. Will be a top 5 pick in the draft whenever he comes out.
- JT Barrett - I am not a JT Barrett fan at all, but the 4th quarter he put together to come from behind and beat Penn State this past Saturday was phenomenal. He has been really good since the loss to Oklahoma earlier this year. If he keeps it up, he will definitely be in New York. I mean he’s 25 TD’s to just 1 interception.
- Bryce Love - Maybe the best pure running back in the country. He plays at Stanford and they haven’t gotten a ton of attention this year, but this guy is a problem whenever he steps on the field.
- Baker Mayfield - Still playing at an extremely high level despite the 1 loss to Iowa State. Needs his defense to be better for him to win out and actually have a true shot at the award.
- Mason Rudolph - Has a lot of weapons and does a great job getting them all the ball. More skilled than most quarterbacks as he can run as well and well as throw the ball deep very well.
Bye, Bye McElwain
We’ve had our first major program coach get fired. And it wasn’t the one I expected. While Butch Jones and Bret Bielema continue to kill their current programs, Florida made the decision to fire head coach Jim McElwain. As the A.D. said, this came down to more than wins and losses. Since he was hired there, I never got a good vibe from him as the leader of that program. Now several reports are coming out regarding his attitude and arrogance. Basically he thought he was more important than the program and looked down on others in the athletic department. I don’t think it was a coincidence that he was fired immediately following not only a loss to rival Georgia that wasn’t even close, but also character concerns. He came out recently and said that he and his players have received death threats this season due to bad play, but there has been zero evidence given to support that claim and he has failed to give any specific examples. If someone would lie about that, do you really want them at your program? I 100% see why Florida made the decision that they did.
PICK 6
There are so many great football matchups this week, I may not even be able to limit myself to picking just 6 games! I know I’ve said this before, but this truly is a day to clear your schedule and just watch college football all day long.
Penn State VS Mich St.
In what should be a great game, Penn State travels to Michigan State looking to bounce back after blowing a huge lead vs Ohio State. Michigan State is very good defensively, similar to Iowa who Penn State struggled against earlier this year. They are also a very young team but at home, I expect them to challenge Penn State in every way. I see this game being close until the very end.
Penn State 27
Michigan State 20
Oklahoma VS Oklahoma State
In what is basically a playoff elimination game, this should be a great game! Neither of these teams have great defenses so I expect a shootout. This will likely come down to a quarterback duel between Mason Rudolph and Baker Mayfield, 2 of the best quarterbacks in the country. What team gets a stop will be the deciding factor late. I give an edge to the home team.
Oklahoma State 41
Oklahoma 37
Ohio State VS Iowa
Can Ohio State come down from the emotional high of having to come back to defeat Penn State last week? Iowa is a tough place to play and they are a really good team who will put tons of pressure on JT Barrett. Yes, Iowa has 3 losses but they’ve all come down to the wire and have been by 7 points or less. This is the same team that Penn State needed a miracle to defeat. I expect this to come down to the end.
Ohio State 24
Iowa 17
Clemson VS North Carolina State
Clemson had starting quarterback Kelly Bryant return last week and he looked good in a win over Georgia Tech. NC State has been good this year, but they come off a game where Notre Dame shut them down, and out in the second half. Can they rebound to knock off the defending champs who can’t afford another loss? I don’t think so.
Clemson 37
NC State 17
LSU VS Alabama
I think this game will be much closer than the spread says (Bama -21.5). I think this mainly because Alabama has proven nothing to me this season. They’ve beat one team this season who has a winning record and that was a single digit ballgame in the end. LSU is very capable of beating Alabama. Their defense has improved and Darius Guice will be ready to make up for what he was unable to do last year. As good as Alabama was last season, they needed a 4th quarter touchdown to close this game out and win 10-0. It would not surprise me at all if LSU won this game and if they were at home, it’d make my pick easier.
Alabama 13
LSU 10
Virginia Tech VS Miami
Miami is undefeated but has had issues closing out opponents and having to rally late in games to win. This is why they are ranked where they are. The name of the game is to win, but those wins need to also be impressive. Miami needs a win against a good team that leaves zero doubt as to who they are as a program and Va Tech is a good place to start. The Hokies have looked really good as of late and are a contender as well. They have 1 loss, and would love nothing more than winning out and getting a chance at redemption against Clemson in the ACC title game. This should be a great game on primetime. I believe Mark Richt will have the Canes ready.
Miami 30
Virginia Tech 17
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